Mario: Gateway to the Stars
by Supreme.Empress.DragonGirl
Summary: An ancient evil has come to get revenge on the stars. Can our heroes, with the help of new friends and old, save the day yet again? Or will they fail, and let the world be forever without stars?
1. Trailer

Something big...

_The door towered up towards the high arched ceiling. It was made of polished mahogany, each strip of wood a foot across. Gold bands crossed it. The brightest, in the middle, was adorned with a row of jewels. Writing covered the surface, unreadable, twisting symbols. Set in the white marble arch, precisely above the door's apex, was a scintillating star._

...is coming.

_Indigo streaks blended with inky blackness. The rush of wind tugged at them, trying to pull them into empty space. The nothing was broken by bright trails of stars as they spiraled towards the center. Somewhere, out in that roaring darkness, there was a scream._

Everyone...

_They looked at each other. A flash of yellow, like a burning flame, broken by a downwards slash of shadow. Blue like chips of ice, determined, cold. Blue like the sky, half-hidden behind white like clouds. Blue like the sea, sometimes serene, other times stormy. Now, those waters were a raging tempest, filled with the energy of the storm._

...must choose...

"_I can't do this."_

"_You have to."_

"_I know. But I can't. Not now."_

"_There's no other choice!"_

"_Actually...there is. One."_

...to join and fight...

_Light flooded the chamber. Red flashes from one side, where two allies battled an onslaught of enemies. Orange, nearby, and yellow—fire. Green sparks flew as twenty tons of steel, circuitry, and pure power battled. Blue, violet, silver from another corner—the two of them fought like a single being. A rainbow of battle._

...or flee.

"_Run!"_

"_But—you promised--"_

"_I know I did."_

"_You lied to me!"_

"_If we flee now..."_

"_Then you break your promise and--"_

"_...we live to fight another day, when the odds are slightly more in our favor. Go!"_

But even together...

_Three hands and a claw went to the middle at once. Two more hands rested on top a moment later. After a slight pause, three more joined them._

"_Come on."_

"_I'm not sure..."_

"_We can't do it alone."_

_There was silence...and the last hand broke the circle and joined._

...they may not be enough...

"_There's too many."_

"_You're scared."_

"_I'm not."_

"_Chicken."_

_He hesitated, looking at her. She had thrown out the taunt because she was determined to win this time. He wouldn't like that at all._

"_There's too many. Pull back."_

_She opened her mouth to protest, but shut it again. She'd matured since this started. Enough to know that there were some battles she couldn't win. Both literally and metaphorically, this was one of them._

...to face this threat.

_It was a limp, cold, dimly lit thing to everyone else, but to her, it was a true friend. He was so broken, so fragile. He opened his eyes and coughed. "Princess?" he whispered._

"_Sh-sh-sh," she said softly. _

_He closed his eyes and slackened again, but he was alive. She knew it. As long as that bright light inside him shone through, even the tiniest bit, he would be okay._

"_Oh," she said softly. "What did this to you?"_

"_Whatever it is," said the voice behind her, "I'm not anxious to face it."_

_She looked up. "I get the feeling we'll have to."_

"_I know."_

If they'll have any chance...

"_We're losing."_

"_We're not."_

"_We're sure not winning."_

"_But we aren't losing, either."_

"_Maybe, but we will be."_

"_Maybe not."_

"_What have we got over this?"_

"_Just one thing."_

"_What?"_

"_We have hope."_

..it's going to take all they have.

"_I'm not sure we can do it."_

_She jumped up, hot fire in her eyes. "So _try!"

"_I am trying, but--"_

"_If you have doubts, you aren't trying hard enough!"_

"_Well--"_

"_What are you fighting for? Think of stars, ripped down from the sky! Think of people who look into the night and see nothing but black! Think of that poor, pathetic star the princess found! Think of towns, torn apart, people with their hands burned off, with half their skin gone but still alive because they have no way to die but from slowly bleeding out, or starving! Fight for that!"_

_He swallowed. "I know, but..."_

"_If that's not enough, fight for _me! _Fight so I never suffer that way! Fight so I live, even if you die! It doesn't matter what—but find something that's important enough to you to try!"_

All their strength...

_He flung himself into the door. "I can't," he gasped. "I don't have enough energy."_

"_You have to be strong!"_

"_I know, but I can't. Not right now."_

"_Every single living, thinking thing in all the worlds, all the kingdoms, everywhere, is sending their strength to us. Reach out and _take _it! Add it to your own! Break down all the barriers!"_

...all their cunning...

"_You're the one who has to do this."_

"_Why me?"_

"_Because you have to. Don't you want to?"_

"_You need it to be me? You need it that badly?"_

"_Yes! You're the most cleverest of all of us. Go in there and _use _it!"_

"_I'm actually vital enough to this that you'll rest all your hopes on...me?"_

"_Yes! How many more times do I have to say it?"_

_He looked up, grinning. "I suppose there's no harm in using my superior intellect for something useful."_

..all their caring...

_She couldn't move any further. She was caught by the older girl's strong arms. "I know you don't want to go on," she whispered. "I know it's hard, and I'm sorry. If you want to go, I'll understand. We all will. If you can't do this, it's fine. I just didn't want you to leave without saying goodbye. I'll miss you a lot."_

_There was a pause. At last, the younger smiled. "I'll stay. Because I care about you, and I don't want you to be sad. And because I care about everyone, and I don't want them to be hurt."_

"_Thank you."_

...and all their determination...

"_This is the last chance to leave."_

_Everyone looked at each other. He was right. Once they went into this, there would be no changing their minds._

"_I'm ready." The very youngest of the group stepped forwards. She had come through so much, too much to turn back now. _

"_As am I."_

"_And I."_

_Every single one of them stepped towards the path. He began to step onto it, then stopped. "Are you all sure?"_

_Everyone nodded._

"_You know that not all of us are definitely coming out of this alive. We'll be lucky if we all do. Very lucky."_

"_This is it," said the youngest, and she spoke for them all. "We're coming with you."_

...to save the day this time.


	2. Peach's Return

Princess Peach opened her eyes. She expected to see the soft green grass and pale blue sky and bright, warm, golden sun of her own beloved Mushroom Kingdom. Perhaps if she hadn't, it would not have come as such a shock when she stepped into a much different reality. Who can say how very differently this story may have gone if she had not clapped a hand to her mouth and tumbled backwards? Any number of things might have entirely changed the course of her adventure, for better or worse. But she _was_ expecting to see beauty, and so she _did_ faint with shock. And who can blame her? No one, after she had left her kingdom lovely a week ago and spent that week on a quite pleasant vacation, and returned home to find it in an entirely different state than she left it.

It was King Bowser who caught her, as he stepped out of red light and into the kingdom. His right-hand man and left-hand woman, Kamek and Kammy, appeared behind him. Peach awoke quickly with a sound like, "Oh!" and stood up to look around. Her gaze took in the dark, smoky sky and the dry, brown grass, and she sensed an aura of desolation over the whole kingdom. She began to tremble.

"What happened here?" she asked rhetorically. "What could have done this?"

"I don't know," said Bowser, earning a condescending look from the princess. "It would seem something is terribly wrong here."

"I knew we should never have taken that vacation!" said Peach, unable to keep her voice from trembling. Bowser thought about this for a moment, and then realized she was right. She'd been against it from the start.

"We'd better get to Toad Town, fast, and see what's going on," he said. Peach nodded mutely and hurried down the path.

The gate leading into the capitol of the Mushroom Kingdom was broken and crumbling. The once-majestic white pillars had been toppled, the sign that had once read "Toad Town" was broken into a hundred pieces, and all of it boded ill for Peach's poor home.

Steeling her nerve, the princess lowered her head, donned her cape (which she wore when she didn't wish to be recognized), raised her hood, and entered the city, Bowser and the two Magikoopas right behind her.

There was a feeling of dull desperation and pain and, most of all, an overwhelming sorrow over the town. Few people were out, and those that were hurried along, heads low, not looking at anyone.

"We've got to find out what's going on," whispered Peach. She looked around. There, in the trash-filled gutter of what was once the edge of a garden, was a pile of newspapers. She hurried over to them and looked at the top one.

"Who's that touching my newspapers?" asked a croaking, weak voice. Peach looked to see a homeless Koopa limping towards her.

"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't know--" she began, nervous, but the Koopa stopped in front of her.

"Princess?" he asked in a much different voice, and looked her right in the eye.

Peach recognized him. "Parrakarry!"

He shook his head. "Shh." Still limping, he sat down on the edge and looked through the newspapers. "It's awful, everything that's been happening," he said softly. "I've had to steal newspapers from garbage—no one will sell me one. I always get the news a day late." He was clearly looking for something in particular, but Peach couldn't offer to help. "My limp is just faked," the Paratroopa went on, "but I really do have to walk." He shed his huge, baggy coat and showed Peach his wings. She bit back a scream of shock and horror. Half of Parrakarry's feathers were ripped out, and the remaining ones were bent and broken. It looked like someone quite strong had grabbed his poor wings and crushed them.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "How did it happen?"

"I resisted," he said bitterly. "Of course, the Watch stopped us." He saw her confusion, and smiled grimly. "Oh, yes, there are more of us. A few escaped, but most were punished." He pointed to the main square, where once a star had been painted. "That's where punishings are, now. Everyone has to watch. It's a warning to everyone: the High Master's word is law, and everyone who disobeys it will regret it."

"That's _awful,"_ said Peach. "So they broke your wings?"

"Yeah," said Parrakarry. "And, of course, everyone can see I fought back. And anyone caught talking to me, well...they aren't punished, but they're marked forever by the Watch. When food runs low, they'll be the last—well, before us. They'll be treated the worst, punished the worst when they _do _mess up—ah." He had found the paper he was looking for.

Peach took it from him and scanned the headline. Her eyes widened. She began to read aloud, quickly and quietly.

"**Hero" sentenced to imprisonment and death**

by Royal Reporter M.L. Koopa

Former superstar of the Mushroom Kingdom, "Super" Mario Mario is well known to most people. Few haven't heard his name, or the tales of his great "victories" over evil. But no one saw any of these victories happen, except the ones who were supposedly defeated. How many times have we heard of Mario's greatness? Hundreds? Thousands? He is the star of every show, the main character of every story. But does he deserve all this attention, or is Mario stealing the spotlight?

Our great and kind High Master of the Mushroom Kingdom has recently shed light on the subject. "Think of what he's done to achieve these victories," he said when interviewed. "Perhaps he did defeat Koopa King Bowser many times—but what about what happened while he prepared to do so? He has killed many hundreds of people who were just going about their job. If you don't want the streets cleaned, do you kill the street cleaner? No! But Mr. Mario doesn't think of that. He never hesitates to stomp Goombas flat, to kick Koopas away. He crushes Clubbas, beats Boos. Thousands, hundred of thousands of innocents, defeated and ended and thrown aside like garbage.

"Is this the kind of person we want to look up to?" continues the High Master. "Is this the man we want to be our hero?"

Peach didn't read any more. She threw down the newspaper. "They make Mario out to be some kind of—some kind of—monster!"

"I know," said Parrakarry. "I heard they were giving him trouble—that's what made me resist openly to start with. In fact," he said miserably, "if I hadn't, they might've never imprisoned Mario."

"It's not your fault," said Peach. "Sentenced to death," she added weakly, stunned. Mario, dead? It was beyond imagining.

"When's the execution?" asked Bowser. "Oh, don't give me that look," he told Peach rather impatiently. "I'm only asking how much time we have to save him."

"I don't know," said Parrakarry. "Which means it won't be for more than a week, of course." He saw their confusion. "Oh, I forgot—they always tell us about anything major—like an execution—a week in advance. Of course, it could be_ exactly _a week—they'd have it in the paper before a public announcement."

"How do you know for sure?" asked Peach. "Has there already been an execution?"

Parrakarry nodded sadly.

"Whose?"

"Toadsworth. They said that anyone who tried to get others to remain loyal to the "dead" princess would be...would be..."

Peach was looking through the newspapers. She found the right one and read aloud again. "May 10: Toadsworth, former advisor to the princess, is to be killed by steel-and-stone." She swallowed hard. She knew what that was, from books. It meant her advisor had been slowly cut into small pieces, while beaten with a hail of stones.

"That's horrible," she whispered. "We have to do something. And we have to do it _now."_

"You're telling me," said Parrakarry, fluttering his broken wings slightly. "I think the first thing we need to do is pay a visit to Mario..."

The five of them shuffled off across Toad Town Plaza, towards the magnificent castle where Peach's Castle had once stood. It wasn't until they were at the gates that Peach realized something was terribly, horribly wrong. And by then, it was too late.


	3. Mystics in Hiding

"Can we move now?"

"Not yet."

"But it's dark in here."

"I know."

"I want to leave."

"I know."

"When can we leave?"

"Not yet."

Merluvlee was worried. She didn't know where her father was, or Merlon. Merlon had told them he would hold off the danger, and they should run. He'd said to go to Starborn Valley, and Merle would bring them somewhere safe. But they'd only made it halfway to Starborn Valley before they had to take cover. The enemies still prowled above them.

The cave was just bigger than the space the three of them took up. Merlee seemed very small right now, which helped. She lay against the wall, silent, watching everything fearfully. Merlow had his legs drawn up to his chest and was rocking back and forth very fast. That was a sure sign he was scared. Merluvlee was scared, too, but she couldn't show it. She had to be brave. She was the bravest of all, so she had to be brave for all three of them.

"Oh, please, stars above, light the sky and show me the way," she whispered. She knew she wasn't allowed to summon the stars—that was why they'd had to flee in the first place. But down here, no one knew, and it gave her a strange pleasure to defy the wicked High Master who'd taken over the kingdom. It was as if those simple words could somehow weaken the enemy's control.

"The stars aren't down here," whimpered Merlow. "It's dark and there's no sky."

"But there is a star," Merluvlee told him. "Look!" She dug in her cloak and pulled out her starstone. It was a white stone, glowing with silvery light, shaped like a star. She held it out in her hands and its radiance was like a real star in the darkness of the small cave. "And at least we're warm, and dry, and safe."

"We need a snowstorm hug to banish our fears," decided Merlee suddenly, coming over to them. "Then we'll know that the stars are near." Merluvlee had to laugh. When they were younger, a blizzard had come to the house. The wind had howled, and all the lights had gone dark. They had all been scared, so she had came up with a snowstorm hug, where all three of them got in a circle and put their arms around each other's shoulders, and weren't so scared.

Merlow looked happier at the thought of that. He uncurled and came closer, no longer rocking. They closed the circle, holding onto each other tightly, with that little bright light in the center. And that was how they waited out the storm.

After a while, Merlow spoke. "I want to go home," he said quietly.

"I know," murmured Merluvlee. "But we can't."

"I want to."

"So do I, but we can't."

"When can we go home?"

"Not yet."

"But when?"

"Soon."

"How soon?"

"Soon enough."

Merlow wasn't satisfied. "Can we leave?"

"Not yet."

"Why?"

"Because we can't."

"But why can't we?"

"I..." Merluvlee trailed off. She didn't have an answer.

"I wish that we could go home," said Merlow."

"I wish we'd wake up, and it would seem that this was all a terrible dream."

"I wish someone would help us," said Merluvlee, and her words had a strange sort of power, as if she'd sealed a vow with them.

And in a way, she realized, she had. By making a wish, all three of them had made some unspoken promise to keep believing in the stars, and to never give up hope.

"Never give up hope," she murmured aloud. "Because that's what Mystics do. We hope. We trust. We follow the stars, and we believe that they will lead us to safety."

Merlow pulled some crispy bread out of his pocket. He divided it among them. "A toast to hope," he said in his quietest, most reasonable voice.

"To hope of ours, the shining stars," replied Merlee.

"To trusting and believing," said Merluvlee, and they all ate their toast.

"To sleeping," Merlow added as an afterthought, and curled up on the stone floor.

Merlee lay down and closed her eyes, as well. "'Night, 'Luvlee."

"Night," said Merluvlee, and also closed her eyes. But she couldn't sleep. After trying in vain for a few minutes, she stood and walked towards the cave's hidden entrance.

For a moment, she stood there, listening to the night. However things might be back home, Pleasant Path was still...well, pleasant. She could hear the chirping of crickets and the soft rippling melody of the stream nearby. Feeling daring, she looked outside and saw, through the smoke shrouding the sky, a single star.

It was a sign. She could sense it. There was hope yet.

_Where there is light, there is hope. Where there is hope, there is strength. Where there is strength, there is willpower. Where the is willpower, there is life. Where there is life, there is love. And with love, the light shall return, continuing the cycle forever. _

Merluvlee looked around. She didn't see anyone who could have spoken. But the soft words made a light grow inside her. They gave her hope.

Satisfied and suddenly weary, Merluvlee returned to the safety of the cave.

A shadow slipped across the ground. Near the place where the Mystic had vanished, it darted back and forth, agitated.

Then it turned, slipped sideways, and vanished into the night.

Merluvlee would not wake until morning. If she woke earlier, she might have changed things.

But she didn't.


	4. Mimi Gets the Shakes

The sun shone overhead in the odd, sandy-colored sky. She looked up and shook her head. A blue sky was simply normal. A red sky she could live with, or a pink one. A black sky, that she would take. But _tan?_ She would never, ever get used to this place. Not in a hundred million years. If she had spent all her life so far here, and if she spend ten times that here in the future, she wouldn't get used to it.

Not that there weren't things she loved about it, of course. The city's layout, for one thing. She had never seen any other city with more than one floor! Well, there was Flopside, but it didn't count as a different city. It was just a mirror image of Flipside.

"Someday," she proclaimed, "I'm going to build a cit myself. Golly, it'll be great! It's going to have ten floors, like Flipside, but more. The top floor will be a lovely grand palace, which anyone can visit. It won't be my palace—it'll be the city's palace. Then below there are going to be houses, and shops, and each one is going to be fine. Not grand or exquisite, just fine. Unique. On some floors, there will be lovely gardens, and they'll be filled with colorful flowers and everything. There's going to be a tower, and it's going to have ivy growing on it. Gosh, it'll look great!"

"Mm-hm," said Natasia, not really listening.

Mimi went on. "Then there's going to be the wall. It'll be five stories high, but it won't be to keep people out. Never! It'll have lovely windows, and decorations, and stairs. On the top it will have fences, but not to keep people away. These fences will be to keep people from falling off the walkway on top of the wall. This walkway will follow a channel of water, which will come down from the wall in several waterfalls. Doesn't it sound super?"

"It does," said Natasia. "Let me visit it sometime, 'K?"

"Okay, Nassy." Mimi was quiet.

For a little while, there was very little sound on the third floor of Flipside. No one lived up here, so it was all but deserted. Natasia closed her eyes.

"Nassy?"

"Yes, Mimi?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, um, why wouldn't you be able to?"

"Okay then. Well, who are you?"

Natasia didn't answer for a moment, and Mimi shrank down. "Sorry."

"No need to be sorry," said Natasia quickly. "I was just—remembering, that's all."

"Oh. Remembering what?"

"Just—things. What do you mean, who am I?"

"I mean—well—golly, your name isn't all you are, is it? It's just what people use to indicate who they're talking about. Your name _represents _what you are, but that's all it really does. I mean, when people think Mimi, they think of all the things that make me—me. Right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"So what makes you, you? You're more than just Natasia. You're more than just a secretary. But who _are _you?"

Natasia looked out over the edge of Flipside, her face unreadable. "I don't know," she said at last. "I wish that I could tell you."

That confused Mimi, but she didn't pursue it. She was likely to only get more and more confused. But there was something else she wanted to talk about.

"Nassy, can I ask you an important moral question?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Suppose I knew a secret about someone. A secret they didn't want anyone to know."

"You found it out on purpose, or stumbled upon it by accident?"

"I stumbled upon it. Should I tell the person I know, or should I keep it a secret and pretend I never found out about it?"

Natasia frowned. "Is this a hypothetical question?"

"Yes," said Mimi, at once. It _was,_ mostly.

"Well, then, if it was a person you trusted, and wanted to trust you, I would tell them the truth. Even if they were angry, they would know you hadn't lied."

"Okay..."

"Yeah, but if you didn't trust them, I'd keep it a secret. Or if you wanted an advantage over them, just in case. Secrets like that are good to use as advantages, 'K?"

"Super," said Mimi, beaming. "You're great for stuff like that, Nassy. Gosh, I can't believe I didn't come to you ages ago! I'm such a dummy sometimes. You're the bestest."

She jumped up and flounced away, light as a bubble.

Suddenly, she was flung to the side as Flipside jerked and jumped and trembled. "Aiiaaaaaaa! What's that?"

All was still again. Citizens of Flipside looked around curiously. Merlon suddenly burst out of his house. Though he was not large, he seemed to tower over everyone. "Does anyone care to tell me what that was?"

"A tremor," said Mimi, somewhat foolishly. _Of course it was a tremor! Dummy!_

"I can see that," said Merlon, rather grumpily. "But why?"

"No idea," said Mimi. She picked herself up and waved, then returned to speak with Natasia again. "Golly, Nassy, did you feel that shake? It flung me halfway across town! Yikes!"

"Yeah, um, I don't think there was anyone in Flipside who didn't feel it," muttered Natasia. "And everyone from Lineland to Crag could hear you." She dusted herself off and adjusted he glasses. "I'll write myself a memo to be careful of tremors."

"Good plan," said Mimi gravely, and skipped away.

The tremors continued. Mimi became, ever so slowly, more suspicious. One tremor might be a coincidence, but ten? Twenty? She didn't think that was likely. And they were getting worse, too. Whatever was happening, she knew it was going to be much bigger than a silly little tremor.

By early evening, she had noticed other things, too. The pillars supporting the floors above, for one thing. They had cracks running through them. Too much more of this, and the whole town might come crashing down. Then there was the shape of the tremors. Each one had a center point, a strong spot, where the shaking and the damage it caused was worst. All of the shakes were centered on the same point: Merlon's house. There were other fluctuations, as well—though Marlon's house was the clear center of each shake, the strength did not just fade as it drew away. In fact, one of the hot spots was a fair distance from Merlon's—Merluvlee's house. It was all very curious. There were weak spots, too—the top of Flipside Tower, each of the Heart Pillars. Some of the weak points were stranger: the pipe into Flopside, for instance, or one particular fountain.

"Strange," Mimi said to herself, shaking her head. "Gosh, it sure is awful weird."

Suddenly, without warning, it struck. It was the biggest tremor yet, and she was in the rim of the eye. That was it, she realized suddenly. Merlon's and Merluvlee's houses weren't hot spots, but calm spots, which were _surrounded_ by a stronger part of the storm of shakes. It was the same with each door and each Heart Pillar. What a time to realize this, when she was being jostled around madly by the rolling ground!

There was an awful noise all around her, cutting through the roar of the earthquake. She understood what it was too late. There was what seemed like an explosion right in front of her.

There was pain, coursing through her.

Finally, there was nothing.


	5. A Bit of Excitement

Loud but gentle laughter rang out across the serene valley. The young woman ran over the crest of the hill and sailed back down. Her golden hair swung out behind her, woven with silk ribbons in all colors. At the foot of the hill, she spun on her toes and stuck her tongue out. "Can't catch me!" she teased.

"Oh, yes, I can," called the young man as he chased after her. She laughed sweetly and sped away. He was faster, though, and he caught her and swung her around, then said her back on the ground and kissed her on the cheek.

She laughed again, slipped away, ran a few yards, and sat down under the apple tree. He joined her, and she leaned her head against his shoulder. "It's so lovely here," she sighed.

"Yes, Timpani, O light of my life," he said, but there was a note of uncertainty in his voice.

Timpani caught it. "But...?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

Timpani moved even closer and looked up with him with wide, innocent eyes. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want, of course," she said, "but there is something, isn't there, Blumiere?"

He _would_ tell her. This was Timpani with her charm turned on at maximum strength. She knew perfectly well that he couldn't resist the Timpani who demanded nothing, and asked for nothing, and gave everything she had. That was her nature, of course—from the moment they'd met, it had all been because of such an act of kindness. She had taken him in, out of the goodness of her heart, and asked nothing in return for her help. She didn't often use it to her advantage, but she wanted him to be happy, and if telling her could make him happy, it was to his advantage too.

"You're right, of course," Blumiere said. "You can read me like an open book, love. It's just that there's nothing here but perfection. For a while it was nice, but..." He shrugged and looked down. "When there are no clouds, you don't appreciate the sun."

Timpani knew exactly what he meant. "You just take it for granted. When everything is perfect, there is no perfection."

"When everything is beautiful, what can you compare it to?" replied Blumiere.

"You could compare it to me, and see how much _more _beautiful I am," Timpani teased.

Blumiere laughed. "That I could, Timpani. That I could. Except that nothing can compare with your beauty, because you leave everything else behind."

Timpani smiled and closed her eyes, leaned against him. She felt his hand on hers, and interlaced her fingers with his. She was happy.

But he was right. Nothing ever _changed_ here. And she couldn't help but keep thinking of traveling with Mario and the other heroes. Visiting so many dimensions, meeting so many people, fighting so many battles...that was what she wanted. She wanted _adventure, _she wanted _excitement._ And this time, she wanted it all to be by Blumiere's side.

Softly, she murmured words that she remembered from long ago. "Every step we take, we'll take together. Every breath of mine is also yours. My life belongs to you and your to me. May our hands be clasped together and our heart beat as one forevermore."

"May every joy and pain be shared between us," said Blumiere softly. "May my every night and waking hour be with you. May we stay together, give each other hope through trial and strife, and may our love be always and forever true."

She opened her eyes and leaned closer. "Every step we take," she breathed. "Every breath, every joy and every sorrow, pain and triumph—we'll share everything, forever."

"Yes," he said.

"I want adventure," she said. "I want it all. I want the pain, and the sorrow, as long as I share it with you. No experience I have can be terrible if you have it beside me. Do you think it was better when we had to fight?"

"It was," he said. "It was better when we had to fight for every breath together, every moment. It was better when the very world opposed us. For a while perfect happiness is a wonderful thing. But it's so much more exciting when you have to struggle against opposition, when you have to steal seconds from time itself."

Timpani sighed. "But we can't get out, can we? There's no way out."

Blumiere shook his head. "So let us make the most of what we have, love. If I spend forever without excitement, at least I'm spending it with you."

"At least we have that," said Timpani, smiling, and she stood. Looking up at a juicy, red apple, she stretched up to grab it. Then she dropped back down on her heels, scowling. She couldn't reach.

"Blumiere, will you get that apple for me, love? I can't reach."

"Of course you can," said Blumiere. He got to his feet and grabbed Timpani, then lifted her in the air. She laughed and picked the apple.

Blumiere pulled down a fruit for himself, and they both sat down beneath the tree again.

"You know, it really is nice here," said Timpani after a while, "even if it does get a tad boring. Here, we can be happy, forev--"

She was cut of as the ground jolted violently. The sky suddenly darkened. An odd, cracking, creaking sound came from quite close.

It was Blumiere who realized what was happening. "Timpani, _move!"_ He grabbed her hand and pulled her away as fast as he could. The tree swayed from side to side and fell, with a crash that shook the valley, right where they had been sitting.

"That was meant for us," whispered Timpani. "Oh, no, oh, no, ohhh, nooo..."

"Be careful what you wish for," said Blumiere grimly. "I think you're about to get your excitement..."

The ground was shaking again. Timpani closed her hand tightly around Blumiere's. "Even if we don't survive this..."

"Together," agreed Blumiere. "Forever."

The sky was black, now, and no light shone through. Timpani looked around desperately, but she couldn't see a thing. "What's happening?"

There was a flash of light: a single, shining star. No—two very, very bright stars, so bright they seemed as one.

"Us," breathed Timpani, pointing.

"We _will_ survive this," said Blumiere vehemently.

"Yes," said Timpani, determined, and braced herself for whatever came next.

But nothing could have prepared them for what happened.


	6. Ancient Wanderings

He had seen this path before, once. It had been long ago, but he remembered it clearly. How could he not? It was no the sort of path people forgot. Then, it was no the sort of path people returned from. But that was beside the point.

He thought about his situation. It looked bad. He felt different than he had last time. Did it mean something? Or was it just hopelessness? He knew that this time, no one was bringing him back. Perhaps that was all.

"I suppose this is the end, isn't it?" he asked himself. "Merlina shan't save me this time. Ah, well, I'll likely meet her along the path. Unless she's already walked its length. Hm. Will she have a longer journey, or a shorter one?"

**Don't give up so easily, Ancient.**

He jumped. "Who is that?" he demanded. "Who speaks?"

**You aren't dead yet, merely trapped. Don't you call this the Dreamwalker's Way? That's what it is for you. You're still alive. You're just dreamwalking.**

"How do you know this?" he demanded. "Who are you? Show yourself!"

**I'm not dreamwalking, you know. You can only see and interact directly with other dreamwalkers. I would venture to guess you don't often talk in your sleep this much, though.**

"Sleep?" he asked. "Ah. So I am walking in literal dreams, and you must be having this conversation with my sleeping self, in the physical world."

**That sounds accurate. Your mind is clear, at least.**

"Do you know how I might wake?"

**Don't waste your effort. I've got it under control. Just concentrate on finding out what you can. I'm a bit stuck here, so any information you can give me would be greatly appreciated.**

"Information?" He frowned. "What sort of information?"

**I've done my homework, Ancient. I've been researching the subject of Ancient legends, particularly those pertaining to Dreamwalker's Way. Is it not said that you can view the real world from the dream one, with a greater perspective?**

"It is," he replied cautiously. "I know that. What sort of things do you want me to find out?"

**Surely you remember Mimi and Natasia? And of course you haven't forgotten Mario and the other heroes? Could you keep an eye on them for me?**

"I might be willing to do that."

**Excellent. You just watch things from Dreamwalker's Way, and I'll take care of things out here. I'm working on it.**

The voice was gone.

He walked along the path. He knew where to step so he wouldn't fall. It was instinct, one that every Ancient was born with and had all their life. This enabled him to close his eyes and think of what the voice had wanted his to find.

_I must find out more. I must know who this strange speaker is, and what he wants, and why._

_Then, we shall see._


	7. The Starstealers

Dark figures were slinking towards them. They moved silently, like shadows. Perhaps slinking was the wrong word for their movement—they didn't seem to touch the ground, though they weren't coming terribly fast. She could see them out of the corner of her eye. "Are they the Watch?"

Parrakarry shook his head. "I don't know what they are. I've never seen them before."

Peach turned to watch the figures fearfully—and at once wish she hadn't. They began moving with much more speed, though they were still as graceful as dancers.

"Get away, now," she whispered. She knew beyond all doubt that these things would not hesitate to kill them. She wasn't sure how, but she sensed that they knew who she was and had come here to eliminate all of them.

She reached up to the door and was surprised to find it unlocked. "Inside!" She pushed open the heavy gates and dashed down the long entrance hall. But only two sets of footsteps followed her. _What?_ She knew one of them wasn't Bowser, and she turned.

Bowser and Parrakarry both stood in the door, watching the deadly figures draw nearer. They were both trembling. Peach bit her tongue to keep silent, pulled up her skirt, and ran back. Without making so much as a rustle, she reached up and pulled them both away, then slammed the doors and bolted them shut.

Those strange things would not follow them here.

It was like a sixth sense. She knew that they wouldn't, but she didn't know _how_ she knew, or _why._ It wasn't exactly a thought, or a feeling. She simply _understood_ that they wouldn't.

"We're safe, from those," she said softly. "But not from anyone inside the castle. We made a lot of noise..." Even as she spoke, she thought she heard footsteps. "Hurry, follow me."

She looked around and ducked into a shadowed alcove. The four koopas followed her. All five pressed themselves against the walls and kept still. Peach barely dared to breath for fear of capture.

"Oh," sighed a voice very nearby. "Poor Merlumina." It was the voice of a woman, soft and sad. It was also quite unexpected, which startled Peach. She thought her racing heart would give them away, between the guards coming ever nearer and the alarm from the invisible voice.

"Merle," murmured the voice, "my love, come here...I must tell you this, with my final breath..."

As if her voice had summoned forth another spirit, another voice came from across the hall. "Merlumina, my love, my light, soon I will join you beneath the stars, as it was when we first met. I ask that I might meet beneath those endless skies the mother that I never knew, and that my father might know what has become of me...oh, Merlumina! Merlisa!"

A third ghostly voice began to speak, and the echoes of the three voices became so confused that Peach could not even make sense of the voice right beside her. The guards arrived at the foot of the stairs in the main hall.

One of them swore loudly, and Peach flinched. "Curses, curses, a thousands curses upon those ghosts!"

"I can't see anyone. It could have been the wind. The last shift just came in, and they may have left the doors open..."

"No one now," sighed Merlumina. "I'm alone, now. I am alone, my children are alone, my love is alone. No one left. Just poor Merlumina...poor Merlumina...poor, poor Merlumina..."

"Give me mercy! Let me fade away with dignity, and rejoin her..."

"My love, my dear, in these years that you have been away..."

"I ask the Stars that I may see..."

"Poor..."

"Light..."

Peach couldn't even count the voices now. The guards looked very frustrated and angry. After a few moments, they stormed away upstairs.

"Princess," breathed Merlumina. "Seek another hero, and begin to plan. Beware the Starstealers, for they hunt you."

"We shall try to protect our friend Mario," said another voice. Peach wasn't sure whose it was. "Meanwhile, it is vital that you help Luigi and begin to get help."

"Princess, trust your instincts," said another voice.

"The rest of you, look to her as a leader," said a fourth.

"Now, go," said Merlumina faintly. "We are fading..."

And the voices were gone.

As silently as they could, Peach and the others crept across the black stones and back into the broken shadow of the town. It was quiet. There was no sign of the shadowy killers—the Starstealers.

"Why did you stop?" Peach demanded once they were safe.

"I couldn't move," said Bowser. He sounded scared. "No—it was more that I didn't want to. I wanted to go to them. Their eyes..." He shuddered and shook his head.

"I think they hypnotized me, sort of," said Parrakarry. "I felt like I wanted to look in their eyes forever. It was—entrancing, that's the word."

Peach shivered. They would have to be very careful. These Starstealers might have any number of strange powers. They were terribly powerful, that she was sure of, and even more dangerous. They were in a bad situation if they were targets of that deadly grace.

Kammy had pulled Kamek aside, and they had been speaking in low voices. Now they returned. "We're leaving," announced Kammy. "We hope to find help elsewhere, and you'll likely be safer. The fewer who travel together, the better, and we might draw off some of their attention." She hesitated. "If that's alright with you, princess."

"Yes," said Peach, rather relieved. "That's a good idea." She was worried about this business of being leader. "Find any help you can, and send us a message with magic, if you send it at all."

"Perhaps, once my wings have healed, I can carry the message," said Parrakarry. "Oh, yes, they'll heal, if I'm very careful to act as though they aren't, and to avoid attention. But I think I ought to stay in one place. I know of a way underground, in the tunnels, to get to Goomba Village, or what used to be Goomba Village. I'm told that there, I can find directions to a resistance group. We fighters have a few ways to keep in touch."

"I hope you stay safe," said Peach. "You should go there. It sounds safer than here, at any rate, and our plans might be dangerous. It would be better if every resistor left who could."

"I'll tell someone when I get there," said Parrakarry. "Someone will keep you updated, and I'm sure they'll monitor the movement of the fighters from here to the haven."

"Tell them they should set up a few different locations, and send people different ways. No more than one or two people should go to each place every day."

"Good idea." He shuffled off, limping again.

"Now," said Peach, looking to Bowser. "I think we're going to find Luigi."

That, as she soon found out, would be easier said than done. But she didn't know that then, and so she couldn't possibly prepare herself.


	8. Shadows and Light

She did not sense that something was there, but rather, that something was gone. Her feeling of comfort and security had faded. _Morning,_ she thought, but she knew that morning, though it had come, was not the reason.

She couldn't feel the stars.

"Merlee," she whispered in her sister's ear. "Merlow. Wake up. Something's wrong."

Merlee's eyes opened, and she sat up without a sound. Merlow whimpered softly, and both sisters clapped their hands over his mouth. He woke, and they released him quickly.

"Shh," breathed Merluvlee. "Come look, but don't make a sound."

They crept to the hidden entrance of the cave. She peered out.

Her eyes met the gaze of a dark figure. Those eyes were like endless skies, layers upon layers of stars. She could see all the way back to the beginning of time. And the formations, the colors! She was lost in a beautiful, endless space full of starlight. _Come play with us,_ laughed the stars. _Come play. You can see everything..._

She could see everything. Every corner of the universe was hers to explore. Her power, sight, had been magnified beyond belief. Nothing was hidden from her. Nothing was beyond the reach of her magic.

Her powers had just become limitless.

It was gone. Everything became black. She struggled, and tried to scream, but her voice was muffled by a hand over her mouth. Her sight returned, and she was looking at the ceiling of the cave and shaking so hard it seemed the world was trembling.

"Sorry, sis," said Merlow quietly. "I had to. You couldn't look away."

"I could have," whispered Merluvlee. "I just didn't want to. I saw...so much..."

"We've got to do something," said Merlee. "I don't think they can get in; they obviously know where we are, but they aren't attacking. But we can't just _sit_ here and _wait_ for them to leave."

"Right," said Merluvlee, and stood up. She was still trembling, but steady enough. Carefully, she felt around for something. Her fingers closed around a stone, and she pulled it out. It was pale blue and glittered with stardust. She focused her energy into it, and threw it into the air. Silver sparkle formed around it in the shape of a graceful weapon. She carefully adjusted the details. The glow she made brighter, the stone's Focus stronger. Physically, she made it shorter and thinner. On her right, Merlee made adjustments to a bow and a single arrow—what she called the "model" for the other arrows. On her left, Merlow adjusted a spear-staff with the stone in its tip.

"Starlight, star bright," whispered three voices. They had all agreed on those words as the activation for their starlight weapons. The silver glimmers solidified into sparkling silver blades and points, and they all readied their weapons and stepped outside into battle.

With these enemies, it was better to not look at them at all. Merluvlee expanded her consciousness to envelope the whole battlefield. That was a small matter for her. She could sense herself and Merlee and Merlow, as well as the seven enemies near them.

The three of them, she realized, were very fortunate. She and Merlee were twins, and they had always been close, even for twins. Merlow, meanwhile, had magic over connections, and so could not only sense their bond but become part of it, making them a triangle of magic.

It was with this connection that Merluvlee drew them into her power, so that they, too, could know without seeing.

_Many and one..._

Merluvlee looked around, keeping her gaze away from the shadowed faces of the strange foes. Many and one? It seemed to be referring to the things they were fighting.

It reminded her, in a strange way, of a story she'd been told when she was younger. The worst danger to the heroine were nameless creatures. There were thousands of these things, even millions—a virtually endless army. Each one of them was lithe, swift, and strong. But all of them were really various bodies for a single, hyperintelligent, cold, calculating, cunning mind. These were the ultimate warriors—perfectly coordinated, incredibly versatile, all moving like pieces in some massive chess game, played by the greatest chess player in history.

They were an old legend told by the Mystics. They were the sort of thing that Merlow had been afraid of when he was younger. They were the ones who children were told about, so they didn't misbehave.

They were _here._ It was impossible, but it was true. _These_ were those terrible creatures.

"Oh, no," whispered Merluvlee. "We can't beat them. They're unstoppable."

"Can we run?"

"No. They'll catch us."

"Then we have to fight."

"I know. But we won't win."

"We have to try."

"I know."

Merluvlee defended herself. Though these were the ultimate warriors, she had a lot of skill. Their attacks rarely struck her, and for every time they did, she managed three hits. Slowly, they were being forced back, but it wasn't enough.

She screamed; sharp claws had raked down her side, tearing her cloak. She stumbled and fell, almost as if in a dream. _Poison,_ she thought vaguely. _I think I'll go to sleep now..._

"Merluvlee!" cried Merlee. "No! You have to--" She was cut off as one of the shadows slashed her as well. With a short cry, she fell.

Merluvlee watched without really caring. There was a flash of light, and a high wail all around her.

Everyone was blinded by brilliance.

Merluvlee slept.


	9. A Visit to the Past

The sky was orange.

Directly above her, it was rosy-colored. Near the horizon, it was yellow. But in its vast majority it was orange.

The ground was wet and soft. She pushed herself upright with her hands, and felt the ground give and resist in turn, springy.

"Gloam Valley," she murmured. "Why am I here?"

She stood up and swayed a little, but steadied herself and looked around. "Hello?" she called loudly. "Is anyone else here but me-e-e?"

No one answered.

"Golly, it sure is quiet here," said Mimi softly. "Where is everyone?"

A little way away, she saw Natasia, lying on her side on the boggy ground. Avoiding puddles and still rather disoriented, Mimi made her way carefully towards her friend.

"Nassy?" she called. "Nassy, wake up!"

Natasia moaned softly and sat up, wiping marsh water off her glasses. "Mimi?"

"Who else?"

Mimi held out her hand and helped Natasia up. "Where are we?" asked the secretary.

"This is Gloam Valley. Merlee lives here. Merlee the Ancient, that is, the one I, uh, worked for."

"Of course." Natasia looked around. "Is it always this wet?"

"Uh—yes, I think so," said Mimi apologetically. "Merlee's Mansion should be this way. It'll be drier there."

"Yeah, um, I should think so," said Natasia. She looked at Mimi. "But I'm not sure how welcome you'll be."

"Yeah," said Mimi, frowning. "All these dummies can't just forgive and forget."

"Why don't you just transform into someone she won't know, 'K?"

Before Mimi could respond, someone else did.

The voice came out of midair, quick and rather panicked. "Mimi? Natasia?"

"Yes?" said Natasia.

"My apologies for being a bit late, I expect you've both got quite the headache." This was true; Mimi nodded and put a hand to the back of her head. "I figured out what was happening a little late, I suppose I'm a bit slower on the uptake now. Sorry. I'm in Flipside, or what's left of it, working on improving the state o things, in more ways than one. Both of you are perfectly capable of leaving. I sent you to Gloam Valley because it seemed safe, for now, and because there's an Ancient there. Will you please tell Merlee that a friend has the situation in Flipside under control?"

"Sure," said Mimi.

"Much thanks. Once you've successfully convinced her that it's going to be fine, I need you to go to the Mushroom Kingdom. Do you have that? The Mushroom Kingdom is where you have to go."

"Yeah, I'll make a memo of that," said Natasia.

"Good girl. You do that. Surely you remember the Heroes? Two of them are imprisoned, and the other two are attempting to remedy that. I need you to assist them. Can you do that?"

"Yes, sir," said Mimi, and saluted the empty air.

"Excellent. Then, you should--" The voice broke off and there was the sound of shifting stones, and a muttered curse, before the air went silent.

"Yeah, that was interesting," said Natasia, which summed up Mimi's thoughts on the sort-of conversation.

"Let's go to Merlee's Mansion," said Mimi. "She _is_ related to Merlon, after all, so I'm sure she'll understand. And being dry would be super."

"That sounds like a good plan," said Natasia. "And in this case, I think deception would be a bad idea, 'K?"

"Come on, my feet are soaked," said Mimi, and they set off for Merlee's Mansion.

The Mansion towered over its little segment of Gloam Valley, white and clean against the backdrop of eternal sunset sky. Mimi was quite pleased at having found her way there, and it was she who knocked loudly on the door. "Madam Merleeeeee? I'm sorryyyyyyy for everythiiiiing, but we're wet and we have an important message for youuuuuuuuuuuu, so if you'd let us innnnnn, that would be superrrrrrrrrr!"

"Who's that at the door I see, who claims to have a message for me?" The door flew open, and Madam Merlee stood there. "Ah, the girl I never truly knew. Merlon has told me much about you."

"Um, I suppose thats, good," stammered Mimi. "I'm...uh...supposed to say..."

"Yeah, a friend has the situation in Flipside under control," said Natasia.

"Thanks, Nassy," said Mimi, relieved.

"Flipside is protected by—a friend?" asked Merlee with a frown. "Is this so? If it is, to what end?"

"I would guess the end of helping us out," said Natasia, rather testily. "Please, we don't have all day to make you believe it."

"That would make sense, or so I would think," said Merlee. "I hope it doesn't go awry when I blink. You are welcome to leave, like undersea ink."

"Thanks," said Mimi. "You're the best." She led Natasia away. When they were well out of earshot, she began laughing. "Like undersea ink? What kind of metaphor is that?"

"A poor one, but one that rhymes," said Natasia. "Let's get to the Mushroom Kingdom, 'K?"

"If only we were drier," sighed Mimi. She flipped out (of Gloam Valley, of course).

Natasia blinked and rubbed her glasses. They were still wet and blurry. She felt in her pocket for her extra pair, but they were gone. Shaking her head and frowning, she flipped out as well.

They soon came to wish that they'd remained wet in Gloam Valley for a while longer. But they didn't, and by the time they wished they had, it was too late.

**A/N: That was kind of short, but I liked the ending a lot. It ranks up with the first chapter, and with another ending that doesn't come until later. :P You don't really think I'll give it away, do you? And cookies for all who reviewed, thanks...both of you...-sigh- Only two reviewers. Ah well.**


	10. Secrets in the Shadows

"What are they?"

Timpani clung tightly to Blumiere's hand. She often did when she was scared. Blumiere wondered if she even realized she did it. Her eyes were wide, liquid and shining in the pale light from those two bright stars.

"I don't know, love," said Blumiere. "But I'm afraid they can't be friendly."

They certainly didn't _look _friendly. There was something chilling about them, though they also didn't look particularly _unfriendly._ They were as dark as shadows, stunningly graceful but also incredibly quick.

Twelve of them emerged from the tear in reality that they had created. They seemed to flow across the ground, like they were made of smoke and water and shadows.

The twelve figures formed a circle around Blumiere and Timpani. "Give us what we have come for, and you will die with little suffering," said one of them softly.

Timpani gasped and began trembling violently. Blumiere wrapped his arms more tightly around her and glared at the attackers. "I don't know what you're talking about, and you're frightening my wife. Leave, _now."_

There was no sound, no giving of orders. The strange figures simply moved, in the most perfect synchronization, and Timpani was gone. It barely took five seconds for them to take her away and have her captive at the foot of the hill.

"If you give us what we have come for, you will both die at the same time," said the woman who had spoken. "If you do not, she will die first, and it will be _very_ painful for her. We will find it. Are you going to cooperate, or are you going to watch your wife tortured to death before your eyes?"

Blumiere looked at them. They knew a lot, but how much? How prepared were they for this?

"I'll cooperate," he said, hanging his head. "I won't give it to you—I don't have it, and I can't simply summon it out of nowhere." He wondered vaguely why Timpani wasn't struggling at all. "But I'll tell you where it is."

"Very well," said the leader. "Be very, very specific."

"It's beyond this little vale," Blumiere said, "in the large manor. Go down the hall and up the stairs. It's the third door on the right—three right doors, not three doors total. In the biggest drawer, there's a false bottom."

He held his breath. He was lying, and Timpani knew it as well as he did. But whatever kept her from fighting also kept her from contradicting him, even glancing at him. Six of the figures departed.

Blumiere looked at Timpani closely. Here gaze seemed to be fixed on something he couldn't see. _One of these things?_ He followed her line of sight with his eyes. That was definitely what she was looking at. _They've got her transfixed!_ He knew how to deal with that.

"Please, allow me down there, that I might speak to my wife one last time," said Blumiere, "that we may die in each other's arms..."

He was dragged down the slope to stand next to Timpani. She didn't look away from that one specific creature. Blumiere looked right into the eyes of one of the ones behind her, and began trembling.

He focused on something he wanted. It wasn't anything he _wanted_ to desire, but he did even so. Timpani would have hated him for it, even though he had no choice, but he had a feeling these things would _know._

But the difference, now, between his situation and Timpani's, was that he wasn't transfixed. When he had started shaking, he'd been released. Now, very careful not to give his plan away, he began shaking harder, moving his hands. Timpani had already been doing the same—living out her fantasy, whatever it was, within that creature's eyes. Blumiere could see right where her sight was focused, and he cut it off. She caught her breath and stumbled back, and before any of the figures could stop him, he grabbed her hands and flipped out.

They reappeared right next to the tear in reality. The strange shadowy things were already there, but they were too late. Blumiere kept a tight hold on Timpani and jumped through. As he did, he whipped out his staff and sealed the gateway shut. And they were spinning through space, lost, until Blumiere focused on anywhere, _anywhere_ that they might be able to find out going on. Quickly, he changed that thought to anywhere _safe_ where they could find out what was happening.

The air tore open and shut again in a burnt-out area that looked to have been a village, once. Blumiere released Timpani. She sat down on a pile of charred wood and bricks. Tears were streaming down her face. He sat down next to her and brushed them away. "It's alright, love. We're safe now."

She was shaking. "I know," she whispered. "But they'll find us again. I know they will. They're hunting for us, even now."

"I'm sure they are, love. But we'll run from them. Again and again, we'll escape."

She nodded and swallowed. "Where are we, do you suppose?"

"Somewhere safe, for now, where we can find out what's going on."

A scratchy voice called from behind them, "The Hero approaches! Mario approaches! Hurry! Hurry!"

Timpani turned to see the old Goomba shuffling along. "Mario?" she asked him. "Where? We can ask him what's going on!" she added to Blumiere.

The Goomba looked up. "Mario's not here," he said, sounding sad. "That's just the test for today. If Mario _were_ here, we'd be in much better shape."

"Where is he?"asked Timpani. "If anyone would know what's going on, he would!"

The Goomba shook his head. "Everyone knows—Mario least of all, I'd gamble. He's in the bottom of Chilling Castle, locked up."

"_Locked up?"_ Blumiere jumped to his feet. "Why?"

"They make him out to be a criminal, these villains," said the Goomba. "Managed to convince themselves—though not most people—that 'is brother, Luigi, is crazy. They got the same thing going about the princess—she's not right-minded, she's gone off the deep end, all the kidnapping's got to her."

"Oh, no," whispered Timpani. "Ohh, noo..."

"Are you in some sort of—of resistance?" asked Blumiere.

"I'm the watchman. They all think I'm mad, but a mad old Goomba's nothing to worry about, so they don't bother taking me away."

"Where is everyone else?"

"Goombario can show you. 'Ey! C'mere!"

Another, younger Goomba appeared. "How's it going?" he said. "Follow me, I'll take you to the secret entrance." He hurried away.

Blumiere looked to Timpani. She shrugged. They both began to follow Goombario away from the once-village.

Neither of them realized until later that they'd made a terrible mistake.


	11. The Hero Remembering

He lay curled on his side on the hard stone floor. The heavy band of metal dug into his neck, and his wrists were raw and stinging from the ropes that cut into them. A few feet away, just far enough that he couldn't reach, were the smooth iron bars of the cell.

His hat lay in the corner, discarded. A ragged, frayed, torn excuse for a blanket was thrown over a pile of straw. But he was interested in neither his hat nor sleep.

He sat up, and felt around for the paper. It was a battered issue of the newspaper. The one article he'd read, again and again, was not on the front page, but deeper in the newspaper. It caused him no end of torment, and he knew it was all his fault.

Luigi Mario, younger brother of former star Mario Mario, was declared officially insane yesterday, after having attempted to storm the castle alone and rescue his criminal brother from prison. There has been a great deal of other evidence pointing to his mental instability. For example, he claimed to have won a haunted mansion and been forced to fight a "King Boo." There was no evidence that such a mansion had ever existed when others went into the forest to see. Luigi also believes that he went on an adventure to save the princess of the Waffle Kingdom. In reality, it is unlikely that there is such a kingdom, and if there was, it would be much farther away than is realistic for this poor, deluded would-be hero to have traveled.

Among Luigi's other crazy claims are visiting the Underwhere and the Overthere, and returning; being hypnotized by a secretary; building and piloting a giant robot; defeating a power-crazed jester; and helping said villainous jester to take over all worlds. It is quite clear that officials were entirely justified in checking Mr. Mario the younger into the monkey hotel yesterday afternoon. •

From the pocket of his overalls, he pulled out a cut-out from another newspaper, from a long time ago. It was just a picture and a headline. The picture showed two brothers standing next to each other, the taller in green and the shorter in red. The headline read, "Mario Brothers save the day!"

As best as he could, he crawled over to his hat. Inside it, tucked into a secret pocket, there were more clippings. "Mario and Luigi do it again!" "Princess rescued by Mario twins!" "Koopa King defeated by famed brothers!"

Mario shook his head and stuffed the clippings back into his hat. He remembered something Luigi had once told him.

"_You know, bro, I miss those days, when we worked together. We were a great team."_

_"We were."_

_"I wish we could have that again, you know? Just being co-stars—I've never been big on spotlight time. They say it's hot under the limelight. But I would give anything to be the team we used to be again."_

_"Yeah. But we aren't the people we used to be. We've changed. I'm not sure we could work as a team anymore."_

He'd been right, as it turned out. As much as he loved his brother, the past adventure had shown them both that they couldn't do what they'd done in the past.

Both of them wanted, at some level, to believe that it was only because Peach and Bowser had been there. But Mario couldn't quite convince himself it was true, and he didn't think Luigi had, either. They were still best friends, and always would be, but they just weren't a team anymore.

Mario curled up again and stared at the wall outside the bars. Maybe if he hadn't decided to split up the team, they would still be working together. But they would never know now.

_Luigi declared insane! _It was nonsense. Especially seeing that every one of those "claims" was true. But then, he thought, that was just an excuse. Just a reason to get Luigi out of the way. That was the reason behind it, to get them both out of the way.

Executed. He was going to be executed. It was because he, Mario, was the greater threat, or seemed to be. If he and Luigi had still been working together, they would both be in here, wasting away until they were killed in Toad Town Square.

So it was better this way. This way, Luigi was safe, or safer than he would be out in the real world right now. This way, there was some hope.

There was the sound of mad laughter from down the hall. Some of the Watch, off duty. Mario focused his eyes on a single tiny crack in the wall. Beads of water trickled down from it, one at a time. He followed them with his eyes. In his mind, he conjured an image of Princess Peach. This was the only way he had to stand the taunting of the Watch.

"Well, look who it is! Everyone's favorite plumber! That's all he was ever good for, innit, mucking in the sewer!"

"I bet he's right at home here, in a little wet place underground!"

"You miss your precious Princess, plumber?"

"Funny sort of prince, him!"

Mario didn't rise or retaliate, though he desperately wanted to. He couldn't take the bait. If he harmed one of the Watch...

"No one move," said a cold, authoritative voice from down the hall. "And that includes you, hero-man."

There was silence. The laughter of the Watchmen died away. After a moment, the voice spoke again. "Clear out. I'll take it from here."

There wasn't a sound except the dripping of water.

"Did you hear me? I said clear out, you _morons!_"

The Watchmen scurried away.

"Mario. You're going to get up and turn around to face me, _slowly._ Any sudden movements, and you might unexpectedly earn yourself a game over."

_Slowly,_ Mario got to his feet and turned around, his hands raised above his head.

She was a young woman, perhaps the same age as Princess Peach. Her eyes were cold and bright. Her boots had steel spikes on the toes, and each one of her fingers was tipped with a two-inch metal claw.

Her beauty left Peach in the dust.

"Hello, Mr. Mario," she said cooly. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kiara."

"Kiara," repeated Mario. "A pleasure."

"Look," said Kiara, "it's not going to be long before someone much worse than the Watch comes down here. I've got a message for you."

"Yeah?"

"Keep a sharp lookout. Think before you act or speak. Wait."

"That's the message?"

"Yes."

"Keep a sharp lookout, think before I act or speak, and wait."

"Yes."

Mario blinked. "Great."

Kiara clicked her fingers and something appeared in her hands. She tossed it onto the floor of the cell. It was a pair of glasses.

"What do I do with these?" asked Mario.

Kiara shrugged. "Figure it out. My job's not to give you a walkthrough."

"I--" began Mario, but Kiara was gone. She hadn't walked. She hadn't flipped. She'd simply vanished like a mirage in the desert.

Mario looked at the glasses and back at the spot where Kiara had stood. The shiver that went through him had very little to do with the cold.


	12. Intermission

**A/N: This is a couple days late, but I still wanted to do it. On the Fourth my aunt was here, and yesterday I was at the fair with a friend, so I couldn't write it. But here you are—my Fourth of July intermission chapter! Enjoy!**

_Boom! _A flash of vibrant color lit the sky above Flipside. Sparks showered down. There was a whistle and another _bang!_ as another firework went off.

Princess Peach lay on a blanket on the top floor of Flipside. Bowser sat next to her, pretending to be bored by the proceedings, even though really he wasn't. On her other side, Mario and Luigi were talking to each other, just like old times. Behind them was the Heart Pillar, with the red Pure Heart glowing softly within it.

"What a wonderful night," said Peach softly, watching the sky. "Aren't these fireworks great?"

"Nhh," said Bowser. "I guess they're okay."

She reached up and hit him on the nose. "Silly. You know I don't believe that."

"Mm," was his gruff reply, but he was grinning.

Mario was at ease. "You know, Luigi," he said, "next time, I'll bring you along for the adventure."

"That sounds great, bro," said Luigi. "Do I still get to lead the parade after we save the world?"

They both laughed. "I guess we'll have to see," said Mario.

On the far side of Flipside Tower, another little group was watching the display. "It's wonderful," said Timpani as she gazed up at the flashes of light in the sky. Beside her sat Blumiere, twirling a lock of her hair absently around his finger.

"It is, love," he replied, and Timpani smiled.

A little ways away, Mimi was having an animated discussion with O'Chunks. "Golly, it was super! But then, some people started talking to me. They wanted to tell me that I was talking too loudly and starting to get on everyone's nerves. But they kept mumbling about how nice my dress looked and how my hair was pretty. I was like, Gosh, if you want to say something just_ say_ it, you know!?"

"Aye, yeh're right there, lass," said O'Chunks. "But yeh should sit down a minute an' watch the show."

Mimi giggled. "That's awful silly of me. I'll do that."

She sat down and leaned against the tower, smiling up at the sky. As she was watching the fireworks, Dimentio appeared and yanked on her hair. Mimi yelped, but before she could retaliate, he was gone.

The next time it happened, though, Mimi was prepared. As the jester reached for her pigtails, she smacked his hand away without even looking.

"Ow!" yelled Dimentio, and disappeared, hopefully for a while this time. Timpani looked around in mild alarm, but all she could see was Mimi smirking as she fixed her hair.

The only person who wasn't sitting with the group was Natasia. She was at the very corner of Flipside, her feet hanging off the edge, staring off into space.

Timpani frowned, got up, and went to sit next to Natasia. "Hey, Natasia?"

"Yes?" asked Natasia quietly.

"Why are you sitting all the way over here?"

Natasia shrugged.

"Aren't you lonely?"

"A little," said Natasia. "Yeah, but I'm always lonely."

"Why don't you come sit by me over there?" Timpani sat down on the edge.

"I don't feel like it."

"I'm sure it'll be more fun to watch the fireworks with someone to keep you company."

Natasia looked away. "Well..." She turned back to Timpani, smiling slightly. "Save me a spot, 'K?"

_Boom! _Fireworks exploded over Flipside, and everyone cheered as the show drew to a close and the sky darkened again.

**Happy belated Fourth of July, everyone!**


	13. Meeting in the Dark

"Mail! Hey, mail! Vi-vi-aaaan! Come get your mail!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Vivian vanished and reappeared at the door. She snatched her mail out of her sister's hand and opened it.

It was an invitation to a party—a reunion. She grinned as she stuffed the letter away. "See you later, Bells, Mare!" she called as she vanished.

Beldam looked blankly at the spot where Vivian had vanished. She turned to look at Marian. The middle sister shrugged.

* * *

Koops jumped as his Mailbox SP rang. He hurried to check the mail. Scanning down it, he saw that it was an invitation to a reunion for all of Mario's friends. He grinned and got up.

"Hey! Dad! I'm going off to Rogueport! There's going to be a reunion there!"

"Alright," said his father. "You be careful, son."

"I always am," said Koops cheerfully. "See you!"

He ran out of Petalburg without even stopping to explain to Koopie Koo where he was going. She stared after him, very confused.

"Weird," she said, shaking her head.

* * *

"Eh? What's this? A letter?"

"That's right, Admiral, sir," said the Toad. "Here you go."

Admiral Bobbery took the letter and opened it as the Toad scurried off down the street. It was a call for him to come to a bit of a gathering, for all the once-helpers of Mario.

"Aye, a reunion, that's what it is," said Bobbery. "Well, it can't be any harm. I'll go."

He put away the letter and ambled down the beach. "I'm sailing off to Rogueport!"

* * *

"I've...been looking...all over...for you!" panted the mail Toad.

"I'm sorry," said Goombella honestly. "I wasn't expecting a letter. I'm investigating some interesting archeological facts."

"Research, huh?" asked the Toad. "You're dedicated, for sure. Is the Professor here?"

"No, he said he was too old to be running around collecting things. He helps me study them, but I collect them myself."

"Well, here's a letter," said the Toad. "See you around!"

Goombella opened her letter and read it.

"Hm," she said. "A reunion in Rogueport? That's fitting, I suppose—back where it started, and where it ended. I'll be in Rogueport anyways, taking these things to Professor Frankly. I'll go then."

* * *

"A letter?" asked Yoshi. "Cool, man! Thanks!"

"Of course, Mr. Champion, sir," said the Toad, and ran off.

Yoshi reclined on his bed in the champion's room as he opened the letter. "Oh, a reunion? Cool, man! I'm going there! I'll make sure Miz Jolene knows, so she doesn't freak about me disappearing."

He jumped up and ran as fast as his little legs could carry him. "Hey, Miz Jolene! I'm going to a little reunion in Roguport. Save me the Champ's spot!"

"Yes, Mr. Champion," said Jolene dutifully, and saluted him. "Have a good time."

Yoshi ran out of the Glitz Pit and towards the blimp.

* * *

The door swung shut with a second jangle of bells. "Miss Mousie?" asked the Toad.

Miss Mousie giggled and sashayed over. "That's me! Do you have a letter?"

"Yes," he said, and handed it to her. "Have a good day."

Miss Mousie tore open the letter. "Hm," she mused. "Looks like it's time..."

She grabbed her mask from beneath the counter and fitted it on. "Well, well! I'm off to a party!"

And with that, Ms. Mowz flipped backwards out the window and was gone.

* * *

The five invited people met in Rogueport Square.

"We should goto the Door," said Goombella. That was all that needed to be said. No explanation. It didn't need to be called "the Thousand-Year Door" or "the star-sealed door" or "the underground door." It was enough to simply call it "the Door."

"Yes," said Vivian. "It would feel more—right, if we were there."

No one needed instructions. They all remembered where to go. It was automatic, as easy as it had been when Mario had been leading the way. There was no need for words. There was just an understanding, a connection that was as natural and necessary as breathing. They hadn't even realized it existed until it was gone, and they hadn't known what the missing part was until it was there again.

The five of them descended into the chamber directly below Rogueport Square. It was very dark.

"Something's wrong." It was Goombella who spoke. "There should be light in here..."

"I don't—" began Vivian, but what she didn't, they never found out. There was a swish and a scream, and then silence. Darkness prevailed.


	14. Merlar's Star

She was awakened by a sense of being shaken. "What's...going on?"

It was dark. Ahead of them was a bright light, streaking through the trees. She was being supported between Merlee and Merlow. "Where are we?" she asked, suddenly alert. "Those things--"

"We're escaping," hissed Merlee. "Madam Merlar knocked them out when she came. She told us to grab you and follow her. We've been running ever since, and we've barely stopped. It's nighttime."

"I could tell. Where are we?"

"I'm not sure. That bright light is Merlar. It's like the old story Father used to tell us..."

Merluvlee knew the story. Once, it went, all the Mystics had been near their doom. Then one brave girl, who had nothing to lose and everything to give to her people, had asked the stars to take her life, and use the energy to save the rest of the Mystics. They had granted her request, and she had collapsed. Her spirit, though, had become a star, and she was able to save the others.

Merluvlee was amazed that the legends were true, excited that she was becoming part of the magic tapestry of her history, and relieved to be escaping from those shadow things, but she was also sad. Sometimes, when she had visited her father, or simply when she had needed some caring and some wisdom, she had gone to Madam Merlar's shrine. It had become a haven for her, a place to get away, to clear her mind and gain perspective about her life. When this was over, there would be no more Madam Merlar. No more voice of reason calling through the insanity.

Merluvlee was confused, dazed from the fight with the shadows, and very tired despite her long sleep. She half-realized, but didn't really care, when tears spilled onto her cheeks. This was all too much. What had she gotten herself into?

At last, they stopped. The glowing, ghostly, brilliant image of Madam Merlar appeared around the blinding light that was Merlar's Star. "Young ones, children of the stars," she said. "You are so brave. There is much I must tell you, and little time to tell it. Listen carefully."

"Yes, Madam Merlar," said Merluvlee dutifully.

"Your father and grandfather are—how to say it? Trapped, in another...an alternate reality, you might call it. The same thing explains the mysterious disappearance of both you grandmother and your mother. They are vital to the plans of the Dark One who lives beneath this kingdom. It commands the one who commands the Starstealers—the ones who attacked you. They are hunting for you."

"Why us?" asked Merlow softly.

"Because even the energy of your parents and your father's parents, it is not enough. There are no other Mystics with your power. The three of you, combined, are more powerful than Merlon was in his prime, and he is even now one of the most powerful Mystics ever. You three are young, and while you may not be at your prime yet, it is due to lack of focus and knowledge, not lack of power. The young have more power, and your power will dwindle as you age. The Starstealer will not kill you, but they will capture you. _You must not allow them to succeed._"

"It's just the opposite of what Merlon said," said Merlee. "But it isn't, if you use your head."

"You're right," said Merluvlee. "He said we have to put the safety, life, and well-being of everyone else before ourselves, because that's what we're supposed to do. We're the Star Guardians. We're the protectors. But now, if we want to save the kingdom, we have to put ourselves first."

"You must die before you let them capture you," said Merlar. "In fact, if you are in their grasp and have no escape, that is your only choice. If you ask the stars to take your life, they will do it in an instant. They are kind, but they are also terrible. They will not hesitate to stop evil if you ask them."

"That's what we'll do, if we are caught without hope for escape," said Merluvlee.

"The longer you hold them off, the more likely it will fail," said Merlar. "You must stop it. Gather the keys, and open the Gateway to the Stars..."

"We will," whispered Merluvlee, though she had no idea what this Gateway was or how to gather the keys. "Merlar..."

"Goodbye, young ones," whispered Merlar. She was fading, and Merlar's Star became brighter and brighter. "You are the last hope for the kingdom and for the stars. Never stop hoping..."

She was gone. The beautiful, terrible, many-pointed light shot up into the sky, leaving behind glittering trails. Up and up and up, over them, over the whole kingdom, the brightest star in the whole sky. And then, in a glorious burst of white light and silver stardust, Merlar's Star shattered and became a nova.

Merluvlee didn't bother trying to stop the tears. She knew she couldn't. But she couldn't take her eyes away from the bright light until the last of it had faded. Where it had been, in the sky directly over her head, was a tin sparkling point of light.

Merluvlee slept that night under the light of a new star. She slipped into dreams with the words on her tongue, the last line of the story. _And she shone brightly above the kingdom, high up among the other stars, forever held, timeless and ageless, in the night sky._

Merlar's Star was the last star Merluvlee would see for a long while.


	15. Toad Town

Something was definitely wrong.

That much, of course, was obvious, but when Mimi whispered this to Nastasia, she didn't mean it that way. Something was _happening,_ something that was not usual for this twisted kingdom, beneath these shrouded skies.

"Yeah, looks like there's some kind of protest or something," said Nastasia. "Everyone's coming together on that square. Let's stay out of it until we know what's going on here, 'K?"

Mimi shivered, something about the cluster of townsfolk in the square made her uneasy. She didn't like this at all. "Let's hurry and see if we can find the heroes."

"Um, good idea," said Nastasia distractedly. "The castle—Peach's castle--"

"The only castle I see is that one." Mimi pointed to the huge black castle. "Golly, is it ever creepy."

Nastasia nodded and pushed her glasses up. "Let me check my notes." She closed her eyes and frowned. "That's where Peach's castle should be."

"Well, it's not," said Mimi.

"Obviously."

"We'll just have to wander around until we find them, I guess."

"I guess." Nastasia took a deep breath and let it out. "Let's just hope it's quick, 'K?"

Mimi nodded. "Sounds good."

Natsia looked around. "This place seems dangerous, but I can take care of myself, and I know you can. What do you say we split up, 'K? Yeah, I'll take the north—this part and Central Toad Town, and you can take the south. That's the harbor and the...um...train station part."

"Okey-dokey," said Mimi. "That sounds super."

She flipped out and reappeared in southeast Toad Town. It was even darker here, but quieter. A single bored-looking guard leaned against a tree at the edge of the forest. Very little was moving. She glanced around. A Toad had been peering out her window through the gap in the curtains; when Mimi saw her, the Toad shut the curtains and vanished.

Mimi began walking, looking carefully in all directions for any sign of life. As she walked past the door of the Toad woman's house, she heard a whisper. "Come in here, darling, you look lost and hungry."

"I don't—" began Mimi, but the Toad woman pulled her inside and shut the door quickly.

"You seem a nice enough girl, humor an old Toad," said the woman. She put a pot on the stove and began pouring things into it as it heated. "Be a dear and taste for me, will you?"

"I'm not sure I should," said Mimi, frowning.

The Toad laughed. "Do you suspect I'd poison you?" She drank a spoonful of soup. "Do you trust it now?"

Mimi nodded and had a spoonful herself. It was very good. "Thank you."

The Toad fell silent, adding things to the soup. After a moment, she said, more to herself than to Mimi, "The land became a peaceful place, but the hero came to know..."

Mimi frowned. She had heard that somewhere before. "That while good lies on the surface, evil ever lurks below."

"Good girl," said the Toad softly. "But the same is true in reverse. When evil lies on the surface, good is somewhere below. Waiting. You think so, dear?"

"Yes, I do," said Mimi. "They're gonna take back this town. Gosh, I'm gonna help them do it, or die trying!"

The Toad held out the spoon for Mimi to taste. "I'm Tayce T. Tayce is fine , though, dear."

"Your make soup very well, Miss Tayce," said Mimi, remembering her manners.

Tayce laughed. "Thank you!" She ladled soup into two bowls and set one in front of Mimi. "I think I should tell you what's going on."

"I would like that very much, thank you," said Mimi, "but I'm on a mission. I need to find the princess."

Tayce looked at her gravely and shook her head. "That's part of the story. You can't find the princess, because she's not here."

"Bowser, then," said Mimi. "Or Mario, or even that scaredy-cat Luigi."

Tayce kept shaking her head. "Bowser's not here—he was on vacation with the princess, and so far as I know they haven't returned. They've declared Luigi mentally unstable. I don't believe a word of it, every one of his "claims" was true. I know his adventure in the Waffle Kingdom was true, because he kept coming to Rogueport with friends. My sister lives in Rogueport, and she told me all about it."

"And Mario?" asked Mimi, not sure she wanted to hear the answer. "Where's he?"

"He's in the castle. Locked up. He's supposedly a criminal, and he's going to be executed."

Mimi dropped her spoon, and it clattered loudly against the side of the bowl. "He's going to be—oh no—I have to tell Nastasia! Thank you very much for the soup, Tayce!" She jumped up and slammed the door behind her.

Mimi ran all the way beck to Toad Town Square, where she found Nastasia. "Nassy," she panted. "I've found out...something. Luigi's locked up, because they say he's crazy. Mario's locked up in the dungeon of the castle, and he's going to be executed. Peach and Bowser are—who knows where, but they aren't here."

Suddenly, there seemed to be some sort of commotion. Behind them, a few people ran out of the crowd in the square and grabbed on of the guards at the gate. Others ran forward and grabbed the other guards. Both of them were dragged into the group. Mimi flinched as she heard their muffled yelps.

"They're being crushed to death," she whispered. "Oh, no..."

One of the members of the crowd, a Dark Koopa, started shouting. "You see this, High Master? You see this! That's what you deserve! The Mushroom Kingdom hasn't given up yet! You're going to pay!"

Out of nowhere, more guards appeared. These guards were different, though—taller, stronger. Deadlier. They began pushing through the crowd, methodically breaking the resisters and shoving them aside. One of them was coming straight for Mimi and Nastasia.

"Don't hurt us," said Mimi quickly. "We're not with them."

"Then you will help us subdue them."

"Yeah, um, we're not with you, either," said Nastasia.

"Then you must be kept back," said the guard. "You are either with the Elite Watch, or against it."

Mimi and Nastasia ran. The guards followed in hot pursuit. The chase was on.

**A/N: Yes, it's baaaaaaaaack! Sorry I left it for so long—I'll try and get another few chapters written, too. I should make my New Year's resolution to update my stories more often! And now I finally realized that I've been spelling Nassy's name wrong, so that's fixed. :D **

**~DH (soon to be DG)!**


	16. The Resistance

**A/N: Sorry—I don't know what happened here. I guess I forgot where I left off. So, here it is, Chapter 16, Take 2!**

The tunnel was so dimly lit, at such wide intervals, that most of the time the Goomba leading them into the shadows was no more than a mushroom-shaped silhouette moving deeper into the ground. There was a slight draft, tainted with smoke, from above, which made the torches flicker and splutter, and all around them was the steady dripping of water.

"So this leads down into the resistance headquarters," Goombario said. "Well, not so much a headquarters as it is a hideout, I guess. It's not much. It gets bigger and bigger though. It's great—every day, more people come. Only problem is, we're running out of space in the tunnels, and it's awful dangerous to send people over to the other hideouts."

"From what I did see of the kingdom, I'm not surprised," Timpani said, shuddering. "You must all be so brave, to resist, to fight back. It must be terrifying."

"Well, it started with a couple of Mario's old friends. It was just natural that we'd stay on his side. At first we were based in Toad Town — that's the capital. There's tunnels underneath, nothing like these. Technically they're the sewers."

Timpani shuddered again. "Ew!"

"They're not dirty or anything, actually. Just full of water. It's all channelled down from the stream, see? Anyways, we would meet down in the tunnels, and then do thing in secret, at night, you know. Writing on the walls and stuff — "Still Loyal," "Fight for the Light," stuff like that. Then a bunch of us almost got caught, so we had to make a break for it. Gramps and the rest of my family were already hiding out down here, so we had a place to take refuge already."

"You live down here?" Timpani's eyes were wide; the thought of living in tunnels like these was horrifying to her.

"Most of the time, yeah. Some of us never leave, ever, but most of us can go up for a breath of fresh air when we want to."

"How many of you _are_ there?"

"Well, it was just us, at first, but then our families started coming in. Sushie has a daughter and three grandkids, and there are some Yoshis she used to watch, too. And Bombette's got a sister. Of course Lady Bow had to bring Bootler, and a few of the others from her mansion, and Li'l Sparky, Watt's mother, came."

"Sounds like quite a crowd."

He laughed. "And that's not all! Oh, I almost forgot, Lakilulu came, that's Lakilester's...Spike's... oh, whatever his name is now. His girlfriend. Then other people came, other supporters. Kolorado and Karol Koopa, a raven or two, the Penguin Mayor and his wife, along with some Ninji."

She was fascinated. "I can understand how you're running out of room!"

"It's been amazing. Then people who were in trouble started coming here for sanctuary. Not to mention the runners. We have informers everywhere, helpers, slipping us newspapers or food or whispers, letting us know what's going on, and the runners usually stay for a day or two, sometimes until we have information to give to someone ourselves."

Timpani opened her mouth to say she was amazed they hadn't run out of room already, when they reached their destination and she didn't have breath to speak, even if her thought _hadn't_ been knocked right out of her head.

The cavern was only about ten feet deeper than the tunnel had been, but it was vast. The end vanished almost completely into shadows, despite the far better lighting, and it would have taken at least two minutes to walk all the way to either side. Stalactites and stalagmites reached towards each other, massive and streaked with both reds and blues. Water dripped down the walls, and in several places channels had been cut in the floor to empty into one of several reservoirs.

But perhaps even more amazing than the cavern itself were the tents. All shapes and colors of them spread away, from fancy heavy-duty camping tents to blankets propped up with poles. All manner of creatures were there: Goombas, Koopas, Yoshis and Cheep-Cheeps, Boos and Toads and Bob-Ombs alike.

"This," said Timpani, awed, "is the most amazing, inspiring, impossible, _wonderful_ thing I've ever seen in my life."

_Inspiring_ was certainly the right word. She's never seen so many different people, gathered together, united under a single banner for a single cause. But at the same time, it _would_ be for Mario that they could all overcome their differences and see each other as equals. They were all fighting for the same thing, these rebels with a cause, all working together to bring freedom back to their homeland.

"These villains made Mario out to be a criminal," she whispered. "But how could anyone believe that? Look at how wonderful he is. Look at what he does. This is for him, because of him."

And despite the danger, despite anything that was happening in the world outside, Timpani laughed.


	17. Dreams and Reflections

A face, carved, perfect, like a marble sculpture. Clear, pale, gray-blue eyes, glowing faintly, as if backlit by stars. Angular features, shadows and light playing eerily across that proud, haughty visage. Tall, slender, with moonshine-hair. Lithe, powerful, deadly. As cold as ice and hard as diamonds, more distant than the farthest star, and incomparably, impossibly beautiful.

_Kiara._

She was just outside, her steel claws tapping rhythmically on the metal bars, just beyond his reach. _Clink—clink—clink._ She was speaking, her voice soft, light, enigmatic, Dangerous. He could hear her, but she might as well have been speaking another language, because he didn't understand a word of it.

"What are you saying?" he asked her. "What are you trying to tell me? I don't understand!"

"It's not my job to give you a walkthrough," she said in that terrible, condescending way, before her words lapsed into nonsense once more, and he couldn't make out a single word he recognized. _Clink—clink—clink_ went her claws on the iron bars, and he lay on his side on the floor, looking up at her and pleading with his eyes for her to help him.

Kiara only laughed and vanished.

Mario heard his own shaky cry of "No!" as he jerked upright, one bound hand extended towards the bars. Kiara was nowhere to be seen, and as the _clink—clink—clink_ went on and on, he realized it was only the dripping of water into a little puddle on the floor.

He sat up, rubbing at his aching neck as well as he could with the collar on. "If Kiara's not going to help me, someone must be able to!"

He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. His hand reached up, almost without conscious direction, and found the old newspaper clippings.

"Twin Heroes Win Kingdom-Wide Acclaim!" "Mario Brothers the Newest Rising Stars!" "Three Cheers for the Marios!"

He dug more from his pocket, and they fell like snowflakes from his fingers, one by one. Memories crashed over him, bittersweet.

Peach, running towards him, tears streaming down her face, throwing her arms around his shoulders and whispering, _"You're safe!"_ Peach smiling, Peach laughing, eyes bright, cheeks pink. Peach dancing to inaudible music. Peach captured. Peach angry. Peach so afraid he'd been hurt.

Luigi, laughing, alongside him, both of them exhilarated, still charged with adrenaline from a near escape. Luigi jumping, running, cowering in fear, giving him a high-five, kicking a koopa. Luigi terrified, Luigi excited, Luigi determined, up and fighting even as one eye was bruised and blackened, and blood ran from the corner of his mouth. Luigi just being his brother, his best friend, his twin.

He read one headline after another until his vision blurred so badly he couldn't see. Then he let the clippings fall and buried his face in his hands. His gloves were gone, and he could feel the prickle of stubble on his cheeks.

What must he look like after—what had it been, a week? Two? Two weeks, maybe, imprisoned under what used to be Peach's castle. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands and crawled over to the corner where the steady _clink—clink--clink_ of water came from to examine his reflection.

He was a mess. His hair had grown out at all kinds of angles, his face was smudged and filthy, and his jaw was covered in a scruffy not-quite-beard. It wasn't like looking at his own face. The man in the reflection might as well have been a stranger.

He sat back and felt something jab into his hand. He looked around in annoyance and saw the glasses Kiara had given him. Useless.

He wondered what he would look like with glasses on, and the shadow of a smile _almost_ brightened his worn face. He put them on and leaned over the puddle of water to see his reflection.

The face that looked back from the surface was not his. Not even as he looked unshaven and wearing glasses.

It was Luigi.

His younger brother's eyes were glazed. His face was pale, his cheeks hollow. He looked half-starved. "Mario," he mumbled, though he made no sound. He stirred slightly, and blinked twice. The haze lifted from his eyes.

Almost at once, fear crossed his face. He moved backwards, eyes wide.

"What's going on?" Mario demanded. "I need to see--"

His view expanded, and then swooped in to reveal a syringe filled with a clear liquid, like corn syrup.

"Show me everything!"

The syringe shrank, revealing the whole room—Luigi cowering against the wall, and a young lady in white, her red hair tied back in a ponytail, carrying that syringe forwards.

"No!" Luigi was shouting. "No! Don't come near me...wait..." His eyes, if possible, grew even wider, and his mouth formed the words, "Have I met you?"

The nurse kept walking. Mario's eyes widened as well. "Who is she? Show me her face!"

She was kneeling down to inject Luigi as he saw her face. As she came closer, her eyes, too, widened. "You look like..."

"It can't be!" Mario breathed.

"Mario?"

His hands fell and shattered the reflection in his shock. He hurriedly removed the glasses and polished them, but when the ripples dies, nothing appeared. He stared at the black pool for a moment, but, for whatever reason, it revealed no sign of Luigi or the red-haired nurse.

Still, he was pretty sure of what he had seen.

The only problem was, it was impossible.


	18. Old Friends, New Plans

**A/N: I dunno what happened with chapter 16, but it's been fixed now, so go read the corrected version, or whatever happens next won't make any sense at all. :P Sorry!**

The asylum wasn't hard to find. It towered over the square where the Dojo used to be, surrounded by a tall black fence, with a sign proclaiming to all the world what lay beyond those gates.

Peach entered boldly and let the heavy iron knocker fall three times on the black front door.

A pretty young woman in a nurse's uniform, her red hair tied back in a ponytail, opened the door. "You're not wanted here! Go away! Shoo!" She looked around nervously, her eyes wide and frightened.

"We're visitors! We want to see —"

"You can't! Visiting hours are over!"

"Please, Miss! We only want to see Luigi Mario! He's a friend!"

"He's not seeing any visitors today! He isn't well!"

Peach was getting angry. "Listen, just let us in to see him, just for a moment!"

"He — I shouldn't tell you, but he's supposed to be dangerous! No one is allowed —"

Suddenly she caught her breath, pulled them inside, and slammed the door. She leaned against it. "You can't be in here!" she whispered. "Princess, did you know that you're supposed to be locked up here too?"

Peach clapped her hands to her mouth. Bowser, not unexpectedly, stepped forward. "Who's in charge here? I demand to see them! I'm going to get this straight once and--"

"Shh!" hissed the nurse. "I don't want you captured. Just — go. Go!"

She opened the door, glanced out, and pushed them outside. "Hurry!" she whispered.

"If you don't want me captured, then why would you dump me here in the street wearing this?" Peach muttered, but there was nothing for it now.

As she stepped out of the gates, she saw there was some sort of riot going on in the square. Guards were marching out from the castle and suppressing the mob of people.

Then, two people who looked vaguely familiar split away from the crowd and began running towards her and Bowser. The guards — they weren't Watchmen, certainly — gave chase.

Someone crashed into her, someone small and frightened. She looked up. "So sorry — _Princess?"_

"Mimi!" cried Peach. "Nastasia!"

Nastasia nodded sharply. "Princess, if you don't mind —"

"We'd all better run," she finished.

All of them sprinted down the street: the Koopa King, spitting fire over his shoulder at their attackers, the princess, their magicians and guards, the square girl and the secretary.

As they ran, Kammy began muttering. Her hands traced patterns in the air without the help of her wand.

Suddenly, Mimi and Nastasia vanished.

Peach whirled to see her companions, and found they had vanished too.

An invisibility spell!

She took a few steps back, found Bowser's claw, and slipped her hand into his. "It's me," she whispered. "We need to find Mimi and Nassy. _Stay still."_

She released him and ran away, down the road. Her hands felt in the air. She found Mimi's pigtail and flipped it playfully. "Shh, don't say a word. It's an invisibility spell."

"Oh," said Mimi. "That's a relief. I was kinda worried 'bout Nassy and everybody."

"Me too, at first," Peach replied, and ran ahead to find Nassy.

At last, she got the rest of the ground gathered up, all around Bowser. The guards had returned to their companions to subdue the crowd, deeming it more important than locating invisible quarries.

"What was that about?" Peach asked.

"'You are either with the Elite Watch, or against it,'" said a deep voice, which alarmed Peach until she realized it was only Mimi, transformed.

"Don't," she warned Mimi. "Listen, we have to think of a plan."

"Well, we're supposed to be helping you guys free the others."

"Great, because right now it;s going extremely poorly." Peach scowled, even though no one could see her. "A nurse wouldn't let us into the asylum, where Luigi is, and Mario is somewhere under that heavily guarded castle there."

"Ouch," said Nastasia. "'K, so, we need to take stock of our situation. We've got Mario in the dungeon and Luigi in there, yeah?" She pointed to the looming asylum. "No idea how to get either one out?"

"No," said Mimi thoughtfully, "but I might have a way to get into the looney bin."

"What's that?" asked Peach, excited.

"Just for me, sorry," said Mimi. "Could someone make me un-invisible?"

Peach began to grin. "I think I know where this is going..."

Mimi appeared and winked. "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, then I think you're thinking the same thing I'm thinking."

As it turned out, she was right.


	19. Snowfall

It was late at night when three figures stumbled into Starborn Valley, weary, freezing, and travel-worn.

Merluvlee looked around the Valley, shivering slightly from fear and cold. "Something's wrong here..." She couldn't explain it, but she _knew._

For a moment, there was silence as the three of them looked for danger. Then, suddenly, Merlow cried, "They're gone!"

"But brother dear, they cannot be," protested Merlee. "Or is that not smoke I see?"

"He doesn't mean the people!" Merluvlee said, her voice very nearly a shout. "Have you lost your _mind?"_

"What—I don't—what do you mean? Your anger, I have never seen..."

She didn't have time for Merlee and her rhymes. "Merlow," she asked kindly, but urgently, "what are gone?"

"They're gone! They're gone!" He was trembling violently. "They're gone!"

"What do you mean?" she asked. "What are they?"

"They're gone," he whimpered, his voice choked, hurt and afraid.

"The stars!" Merlee screamed, completely forgetting to rhyme in her realization.

Terror washed over Merluvlee, cold and ruthless. The Stars were gone. She looked to the sky, free of its cover of smoke and cloud for now, and saw nothing but blackness.

"Oh, no," she whispered.

A door creaked open, and a young Toad woman looked out. "Come in, you three! Hurry!"

They clambered up the steps to the house and she pulled them inside.

It was warm inside the little house, and the scents of pine and wood smoke filled the air. Two little Toad kids, a boy and a girl, were curled in front of the fire both fast asleep, and their father sat at the table, looking tired.

"You should not have come here," said the woman. "You are hunted by the shadows."

"Yes, we're aware of that, thank you," said Merluvlee, a little sharply and more than a bit coldly.

"They've been prowling the mountains since your father's disappearance. They're waiting for you. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they already know your here."

"And what would _you_ have us do?"

"Flee this place! Go away, far away!"

"Where would we go? Tell me that, if you're so wise!"

"Out of the kingdom, far away from this land, where they can't find you, where they won't follow!"

"Out of the kingdom?" echoed Merluvlee. Her laugh was high and shrill, mirthless, hysterical. "This kingdom is an island? Where will we find a ship to carry up across the sea? Where will we depart, when the harbor is watched and the shores are to rocky, too stormy to sail? We are trapped!"

"You must find a way!" pleaded the Toad woman. "Are you not a Seer? Scry a safe place to depart!"

"What about Father?"

Merlow's unexpected question made Merluvlee jump.

"What do you mean, young Master Merlow?" asked the Toad kindly.

"I'm not leaving him."

Merluvlee's eyes widened. Her hands curled into fists. That wasn't for this woman to know! Was he _mad?_

"He's gone, dear," said the Toad, a little confused.

Merlow's green eyes flashed. "He — is — not — gone!" His voice trembled. She had never seen her brother so angry. From several feet away she could see the tears glistening in his eyes, and his hands had clenched as well.

"I think we'd best be leaving," Merluvlee said sharply. "We wouldn't want to bring you any trouble." Reluctantly, she curtsied. "Good night, madam."

Then she turned gracefully and led her brother and sister out the door.

"What did you tell her that for?" she shouted at Merlow when they were out of earshot. "What's _wrong _with you?"

It wasn't until Merlee's hands flew to her mouth that Merluvlee remembered something _was _wrong with Merlow, something she couldn't fix. But it was too late; the damage was done. She saw the tears in his eyes, glistening in the light from the curtained windows.

"I'm not leaving," he said, and his voice shook. "I'm not leaving them."

"Of course we know, my dear Merlow," said Merlee in a desperate attempt to fix everything.

"I'm not leaving," he said, his cry thin, quavering. "Never, ever. Not again. Not now."

Then he spun on his heel.

"Nor are we! Please, don't flee!" screamed Merlee, but he had already vanished into the snow.

The two sisters were left alone, staring into the swirling shadows where he had vanished.

Merluvlee turned and buried her face in her hands as a sob welled up in her throat, and at that moment, she hated herself more than even the faceless enemy pursuing them.


	20. Flipside Sleeps

Nastasia hung back, not quite in the group nor out of it as they discussed a plan to liberate Mario. They didn't need a secretary's help in their planning, yeah?

"Nassy," Peach said, "maybe you could help us. You could hypnotize the guards!"

She shook her head. "They're not like anything I've ever encountered before." It wasn't so much that she couldn't hypnotize the Watchmen, but that she wasn't sure she wanted to. "I might be able to, but I don't know. I'll make a memo of it, 'K?"

"Thank you," Peach said.

It wasn't very often that Nastasia was thanked for anything.

From somewhere across town, they could hear the manic, laughing screams of the silly, cheerful, very, very brave Mimi, who had sacrificed her freedom for their goals.

"So, in the meantime," Bowser said, "we need another plan."

"Strange to see you concerned for the welfare of my kingdom," Peach retorted cooly. "Or are you just smarting from the thought someone defeated Mario and it wasn't you?"

"Be careful what you say, my lovely--"

"Oh, don't start that again! I thought we'd agreed that since we were both _hypnotized_ it didn't _count--"_

"No, it's in Trilieth's First Law of Mental Connection and Control Magic," said Nastasia, eager to head off an argument. They didn't need to fight amongst each other. "Any promises made under the influence of hypnotism are binding only while the hypnotism remains, though that doesn't stop many people from using it as an excuse for things."

"You see? I thought so."

She shouldn't have intervened at all. There wasn't even any such thing as Trilieth's First Law of Mental Connection and Control Magic; she'd grabbed the first things that crossed her mind in hopes of stopping the feuding. Where had she heard the name Trilieth before, anyways?

"You know whose help we could use?" asked Peach suddenly. "Merlon, that's who."

"Merlon?" Now Bowser was interested. "You mean that little magician from Flipside?"

"Well, seeing as _our_ Merlon has _disappeared..."_

"I'll go get him," Nastasia said, and before anyone could argue, she vanished.

Flipside was deadly silent. The sky was black, and only an occasional pale diamond hung there like a flat blue painting set askew.

"'K, so, scary sky, lots of damage, and nobody home," she said softly, looking around.

"They're sleeping."

She whirled, but no one was behind her. "Who's there? Come on out and I won't have to hurt you, yeah?"

There was no answer.

"Just tell me where Merlon is, and I'll be going, 'K?"

"Ah ha ha ha ha, I'm afraid he's asleep too."

A shiver went down her spine. She'd heard that laugh before...but no, she was imagining it. It wasn't possibly for that to be the same voice. He couldn't be here. Not anymore. He was gone.

_Right, snap out of it, Nastasia. Time to wake up from _that _nightmare. There's something else going on now._

"What do you mean, 'asleep'?" she asked warily, glancing around, trying to catch sight of the speaker.

"There's some sort of spell on Flipside. Everyone's been cast into a deep, deep sleep, and they don't appear to be waking up no matter how many methods I employ in my attempts to rouse them. You can sense it, can't you? You feel it too, in the back of your mind."

He was right. She didn't like it; he knew a little _too_ much about her.

"Who are you?"

"Don't you know me, Nastasia?"

She turned. There he was, little more than a silhouette, half a face glowing faintly, ghostlike, and one golden eyes flashing, laughing. He bowed his head, and there was a slight chiming of bells. His feet didn't quite touch the ground.

"How?" she whispered, unable to find other words.

He shrugged. "Nothing I care to discuss, thank you."

"Your voice spoke to us in Gloam Valley. I thought you sounded familiar! You...sent us there?"

"I saved your lives. Both of you."

"You're a traitor, and I wouldn't trust you if you saved me a hundred times."

"Can't you let the past stay buried?"

She pushed her glasses up her nose. "No!" she shouted as an explosion of hypnotic energy flew towards him. It collided with a star in midair and both shattered. She was thrown backwards from the rebound of her own magic and saw him stagger, almost comically, in midair.

Slowly, her hands shaking, she removed her glasses. "Just remember you asked for this, 'K?"

"Nastasia, don't--" For the first time, there was fear in his voice.

She raised her head and met his eyes. Furiously, she stabbed at him with her mind, but what she wasn't expecting was the attack that crushed her in return as she tumbled headlong into thoughts and memories. The world outside her faded, blurred, going dark at the edges as ones within her tore to pieces.

There was a howl of pain, and a piercing scream.

Then, there was silence.

Flipside slept on.

**A/N: So, twenty chapters! And yes, that's the marvelous ending I meant when I mentioned it earlier. I've had this planned for ages. **

**I've been working hard on Project: Gateway to the Stars. If you want to check out my illustrations, visit my homepage! **

**:DG**


	21. Under Attack

Suddenly, a terrible cacophony erupted around them, echoing from the walls.

"What is it?" Timpani shrieked, covering her ears.

"That's an alarm!" shouted Goombario. "We've been breached! _We're under attack!"_

Blumiere whirled and suddenly his wand was in his hand, gleaming brightly. "Shadows!"

"How did they get here?" Timpani said, struggling to control her shaking voice. "How did they find us?"

"There's only one way they could have," Goombario said grimly. "Someone let them in!"

"One of them must have followed us through the breach!" groaned Blumiere.

Timpani's heart sank as she understood the implications of that. "It was _us!_ We led them here!"

She only just had time to see the look of shock and betrayal on Goombario's face before the shadows attacked.

After that, she didn't have much time to think, only to move. One of them lunged for her right away, and she threw herself to the ground. It changed its leap into a flip and whirled like a dancer to come at her again. She sprinted away.

Everyone was flooding out of the tents, fighting back with anything and everything they had. As the Yoshi kids and their Cheep-Cheep nursemaid threw themselves at the one chasing her, Timpani scrambled up the flowstone and cowered behind the columns at its top.

She watched, terrified, as everyone fought on the ground. Blumiere was like a whirlwind, but the shadows refused to die, and they kept leaping up, snatching at his cloak with deadly accuracy, tugging him down and knocking him through the air.

He was fighting to protect her.

Suddenly, guilt and anger shot through her, both at once, and her fear was banished. She fairly flew down the slope and leaped at the nearest shadow, with only her hands to fight with. It turned its head and began to slink towards her, lightning quick. Her arms thrust out before her, and her fingers made contact with the figure.

Silver and indigo exploded outwards, and the shadow flew back twenty feet with a hissing shriek that could have shattered glass had there been any nearby.

Thoughts whirled through Lady Timpani's head, but the only conclusion she was able to come to was, it had been an awfully long time since she's used magic. Had it always been so sudden?

The shadows were forcing their way towards her through the others, shaking off blows like raindrops. "Come and get some!" she called, taunting them. "You want a taste of that?"

Clearly, they did. They streaked even faster towards her, impossibly perfect and ready to kill.

She fought them valiantly. As they ran at her, she focused her energy into an invisible shield. As each of them struck it, right in a row, they flew back as their friend had.

For about twenty minutes, with Blumiere's help, Timpani held her own against their attacks, but both of them were losing strength. The shadows forced them apart, backed each of them into a corner. Timpani lost sight of Blumiere.

Then, her energy failed just as one of them loomed over her.

It raised its claws. She looked at its chest, determined not to catch its eyes. If it transfixed her, everything was over, and she couldn't let that happen, not when she'd spent so little time with Blumiere, not after all she'd been through to get back to him.

She knew it was over anyways as she heard the swish of its talons. She steeled herself for the pain and waited for the darkness to claim her.

It never came. Her eyes widened in amazement as three glowing tears opened in the shadow's chest, white-hot and shedding sparks. It wailed like some sort of ghost and dissolved.

The shadows stood behind the figure there, forming a black backdrop, a counterpoint to her light. She was radiant, almost literally, with her pale face and her shining white-blonde hair. Starlight danced off the gleaming steel claws on her fingers and her pale, ice-blue eyes glowed. Beautiful, but terrible.

"I'm not sure how you got yourself into this sort of fix, Timpani," said the young woman cooly. "You'd better be more careful in the future. I'm not always going to be here to save your game."

"What?"

"Nothing you need to worry about." She suddenly raised her claws and spun, slashing through the advancing shadows. "Don't even think about it, Starstealers!"

"Starstealers?" asked Timpani when he echo of their shrieks had died away and they shattered.

"Yes." The young woman folded her arms. "Well, Lady Timpani, Lord Blumiere. It looks as if you're both going to be recovering HP here for a while, but when you're back up to full life..." She lowered her voice. "There's a storage room for food, and in the back of it there's a small passage. Follow it."

Timpani nodded slowly. She blinked, and the young woman was gone, as if she's never existed.

"She was _incredibly_ weird," Timpani said, shivering. "Do you have any idea what she was talking about?"

"No," said Blumiere softly, "but I'm sure we can find that passage."

"What if it's a trap?"

"We'll have to be careful. I'm not sure why she saved us, but one might think if she wanted us dead, it would have been easier to let the shadows—these Starstealers, she called them—kill us, _oui?"_

She nodded, but couldn't take her eyes off the place the woman had been standing.

"Besides," he went on, "I should imagine it would be as dangerous to ignore her as it would be to go. I know I shouldn't like to feel those claws!"


End file.
